WEBVTT - Tech News: MrBeast Gets Deepfaked On TikTok 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:12.280 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 0:00:12.280 --> 0:00:16.079 and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:19.960 I'm an executive producer with iHeartRadio. And how the tech are. 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:23.720 It's time for the tech news for Thursday October fifth, 0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:29.680 twenty twenty three. Not an official tech news thing. But 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:33.080 I'm feeling a little bit better. I hope I'm sounding better. 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:37.600 I know my voice has had quite a journey over 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:40.480 this last week. It's not I'm not at one hundred 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:43.440 percent by any means, but you got to keep on, 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:46.280 keep it on, all right, Let's get to the tech news. 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:52.120 First up, let's talk zero day vulnerabilities again. So as 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:55.240 a reminder, the term zero day refers to a case 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:59.320 where software developers are unaware that the product they've made 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:02.720 and released contains vulnerabilities. And to be clear, it's not 0:01:02.800 --> 0:01:05.039 just software. It can be other stuff too, but we 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:09.120 often talk about in terms of software. So they release something, 0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:12.240 there's a security vulnerability in it that they're not aware of. 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:16.560 That means there's a chance for bad actors to discover 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:21.360 that vulnerability and then create an exploit that leverages that vulnerability. 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:25.640 And since the developers may still remain unaware that there's 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:27.679 a problem in the first place. There's no one to 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:30.760 prevent that from happening, or even to react in a 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:35.240 timely way until someone discovers that something hinky is going on. Now, 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:38.760 once developers do become aware of the problem, they can respond, 0:01:38.840 --> 0:01:41.240 but by then the damage may have already been done, 0:01:41.240 --> 0:01:43.560 at least to some extent. Now, the reason I mentioned 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:48.680 this is that Microsoft released patches to two open source libraries. 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:53.200 In this case, a library determined programming that refers to 0:01:53.240 --> 0:01:58.960 a collection of resources that can be used by various 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:04.320 computer programs. So, according to tech Crunch, products that tapped 0:02:04.320 --> 0:02:07.520 into these two libraries, Microsoft products that had been using 0:02:07.560 --> 0:02:12.920 these two libraries included the Edge web browser, Microsoft Teams, 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:16.280 and Skype. And just to be clear, Microsoft was not 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:19.560 the only company affected by this. These are open source libraries, 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:23.600 so lots of other programs from other companies also tap 0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:28.600 into these. Google issued its own patches for Chrome, Firefox 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:30.200 did the same. Well, I think we're going to be 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:32.720 talking about Apple later doing the same sort of thing. 0:02:33.360 --> 0:02:37.880 So Microsoft has not commented on whether hackers targeted any 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:42.680 of their products through these vulnerabilities, nor has the company 0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:45.360 indicated whether or not they could even determine that in 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:49.760 the first place. A scammy advertisement that featured a deep 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:53.880 faked mister Beast popped up on TikTok and has now 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:57.720 become part of a larger conversation around AI and deep 0:02:57.720 --> 0:03:02.760 fake technology and fraudulent advertising. So mister Beast, in case 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:07.279 you don't know, is the YouTube handle of Jimmy Donaldson, 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:10.880 and he's mostly known for doing stuff like giving away 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:15.720 massive sums of money or opening up a burger chain 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:19.400 and then later on suing it and being sued by it. 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:23.359 But the burger chain story, while fascinating, probably belongs to 0:03:23.440 --> 0:03:30.799 another podcast. Anyway, mister Beast is super duper Internet famous. 0:03:30.880 --> 0:03:34.720 I joke about being Internet famous, No, I am unknown. 0:03:35.200 --> 0:03:37.280 Mister Beast has more than one hundred and eighty eight 0:03:37.280 --> 0:03:41.240 million subscribers on YouTube. That makes him the most popular 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:46.040 individual on YouTube by subscriptions. There is technically another channel 0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:50.360 that actually has more subscribers. That is a music label 0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:53.360 in India that has more subscribers than mister Beast. But 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:56.960 if you're talking about a single person, mister Beast is 0:03:57.080 --> 0:04:02.680 like top of the pile. Anyway. In this ad that 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:07.400 appeared on TikTok, the AI generated mister Beast claimed that 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:11.720 he will sell ten thousand iPhone fifteen pro smartphones for 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:17.200 the princely sum of two American dollars. Now, these are 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:20.400 phones that usually go for like thirteen hundred dollars or 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:24.520 more depending upon what version you buy, and since mister 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:28.480 Beast actually has this long history of stunts that involve 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:33.120 giving stuff away to people, you can imagine how this 0:04:33.200 --> 0:04:36.240 ad might actually fool folks into thinking that it's legit 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:39.039 and maybe they pay two bucks to try and get 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:42.480 an iPhone fifteen pro. TikTok has since removed this ad, 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:44.960 but the fact that it went up in the first 0:04:45.000 --> 0:04:50.440 place despite the platform's review process is concerning because TikTok 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:54.760 says it uses both human review and AI to analyze 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:57.360 ads before allowing them to go up on the platform. 0:04:57.400 --> 0:05:01.159 If that's true, this ad somew i managed to slip 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:05.920 through those controls and was on the platform. People were 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:09.320 reporting it, Mister Beast himself commented on it. So it's 0:05:09.360 --> 0:05:12.239 another example of how deep fakes can be harmful. Of course, 0:05:12.320 --> 0:05:15.559 this isn't you know, a surprise. We know deep fakes 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:18.440 can be harmful. They've been harmful ever since they were 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:22.160 unleashed a few years ago. Other folks who have said 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:24.600 that they have been deep faked into ads without their 0:05:24.640 --> 0:05:28.800 consent include America's Dad you know, Tom Hanks, David S. 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:32.599 Pumpkins if You're not familiar, and also an anchor for 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:36.240 CBS named Gail King says that that has happened to them. 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:39.440 So if you happen to see an ad that features 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:44.400 me hawking the latest I don't know sports gambling app, well, 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:47.080 someone done darn faked me, because I wouldn't do that. 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:51.880 The Wall Street Journal reports that part of the US 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:56.239 Federal Trade Commissions lawsuit against Amazon hinges on a quote 0:05:56.279 --> 0:06:01.719 unquote secret algorithm. Now the algorithm does exist or did exist, 0:06:01.880 --> 0:06:05.799 and its code name was Project NeSSI. The FTC claims 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:10.520 that quote Amazon uses its extensive surveillance network to block 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:17.080 price competition by detecting and deterring discounting, artificially inflating prices 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:20.800 on and off Amazon, and depriving rivals of the ability 0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:25.640 to gain scale by offering lower prices end quote. So, 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:30.000 according to the FTC, Amazon manipulated the market so that 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:34.840 when merchants tried competitive practices such as cutting product prices, 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:38.640 the algorithm essentially kicked in to counteract that move so 0:06:38.680 --> 0:06:44.919 that the competitor would see fewer sales. So, if you 0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:49.000 are a merchant and you cut prices and your sales 0:06:49.000 --> 0:06:50.920 don't go up, well there's no reason to keep the 0:06:50.960 --> 0:06:55.160 prices low. If your sales have remained the same, you 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:57.760 might as well sell things for more money, because otherwise 0:06:57.800 --> 0:07:01.520 you're just cutting into your profit margins. So the FTC 0:07:01.600 --> 0:07:03.680 is saying this is what Amazon was doing in order 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:09.720 to keep competitors to keep their prices higher. Amazon reportedly 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:13.120 stopped using this algorithm in twenty nineteen, but the FTC's 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:16.400 point is that the company was stacking the deck for 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:19.080 its own benefit, a benefit that amounted to more than 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:22.840 a billion dollars in revenue according to Wall Street Journal's sources. 0:07:23.480 --> 0:07:27.560 An Amazon representative told Ours Technica that this complaint is 0:07:27.600 --> 0:07:30.960 a mischaracterization of what Project NeSSI was all about. The 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:34.880 rep says that Nessi's purpose was to prevent Amazon's price 0:07:34.960 --> 0:07:39.720 matching practice from making unsustainable changes to product prices. So, 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:42.600 in other words, you know, making sure that Amazon wasn't 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:45.600 going to sell something for less than what it cost 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:50.000 Amazon to make or procure it, or ship it. Amazon 0:07:50.080 --> 0:07:53.800 says that its policy was to try and match lowest prices, 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:56.560 and that this is not meant to drive prices up, 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:58.720 but rather to be more competitive. They said, it's the 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:03.080 exact opposite of what ft claims. The FTC says Amazon 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:06.400 was actually manipulating the system so that the lowest prices 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:10.120 would be driven up much higher than they would be 0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:13.880 in a true free market, and that Amazon was again 0:08:14.000 --> 0:08:17.440 gaming the system. It's all pretty complicated, and it might 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:21.280 boil down to the possibility that Amazon was essentially using 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:26.400 a powerful algorithm to manipulate weaker algorithms that were belonging 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:30.239 to various competitors, all in an effort to fix pricing 0:08:30.320 --> 0:08:34.240 levels that would favor Amazon. Apple has released an update 0:08:34.240 --> 0:08:38.480 to iOS seventeen, which means the most current version as 0:08:38.520 --> 0:08:44.520 of this episode is iOS seventeen dot dot three. The 0:08:44.760 --> 0:08:49.400 update includes security fixes that address some vulnerabilities, including a 0:08:49.520 --> 0:08:52.319 kernel exploit, as well as attatched to one of those 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:55.320 open source libraries we talked about with the Microsoft story, 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:59.120 and the update also addresses a problem that some iPhone 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:03.680 fifteen users have reported, you know that their smartphone tends 0:09:03.679 --> 0:09:06.640 to run a little hot. Apple says that the reason 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:09.880 for the hot phones mostly falls to software and also 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:14.960 to those darn USBC chargers. You see, Apple tried to 0:09:15.040 --> 0:09:19.199 warn you that switching away from the company's proprietary charging 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:23.400 technology would cause problems, and here it is. I should 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:26.680 also add that folks have speculated that maybe the processor 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:29.680 in the iPhone fifteen could be partially at fault. Apple 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:32.760 says that's not the case anyway. If you do have 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:35.040 an iPhone, you might want to check to see if 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:38.440 the version of iOS running on your device is the 0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:42.959 current one. Meanwhile, Google launched its Pixel eight and Pixel 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:46.440 eight Pro smartphones this week, as well as the Pixel 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:51.000 Watch two. Now smartphones have Google's own Tensor G three 0:09:51.160 --> 0:09:55.040 chipset to power everything. The Pro model has a fifty 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:59.160 megapixel rear camera, a forty eight megapixel telephoto lens with 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:03.400 five times zoom, and a forty eight megapixel ultra wide camera. 0:10:03.520 --> 0:10:07.560 So Google is continuing to embrace the whole photography aspect 0:10:07.559 --> 0:10:09.839 of smartphones, which you know it's been doing for several 0:10:09.880 --> 0:10:14.560 generations now. The Pro also has a temperature sensor that 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:17.360 Google says you could use to measure the temperature of 0:10:17.600 --> 0:10:20.080 like a surface, you know, kind of like those gadgets 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:23.040 that barbecue enthusiasts use to make sure that their coals 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:25.720 are hot enough to I don't know, seer a pig 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:31.200 or whatever. The Google Pixel eight Pro starts at nine 0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:34.319 hundred ninety nine bucks. That's one hundred dollars increase over 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:38.280 the previous generation's Pro model. The standard Pixel eight not 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:40.839 the Pro, but the regular Pixel eight is a little 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:44.560 bit smaller than the previous generation, the Pixel seven. It 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:47.360 lacks the telephoto lens that the Pro has, but it 0:10:47.440 --> 0:10:50.800 also comes with the ultra wide camera, and it starts 0:10:50.840 --> 0:10:53.600 at six hundred ninety nine dollars. That's also an increase 0:10:53.640 --> 0:10:58.680 over the previous generation. The phones also launched with Android fourteen, 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:02.720 and Google has promised seven years of ongoing OS upgrade support, 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:06.959 which is best in class as far as OS support 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:10.800 goes in the smartphone industry. The watch, meanwhile, the pixel 0:11:10.840 --> 0:11:16.200 Watch two, has a few cosmetic changes compared to the 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:20.600 original pixel Watch. It also has some updated sensors, and 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:23.480 it has a new processor, the snap Dragon W five, 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:27.760 and that means that the pixel Watch two should be 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:31.800 better at conserving battery life more effectively than the original 0:11:31.920 --> 0:11:35.400 pixel Watch was. There were a few other announcements that 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:37.719 Google made as well, including one that says Google is 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:41.000 going to unleash a new AI enhanced version of the 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:43.439 Google Assistant on all of us at some point in 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:49.080 the near future. And I for one welcome our robot overlords. Okay, 0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:51.320 we're gonna take a quick break and we'll be back 0:11:51.360 --> 0:12:03.640 with some more tech news. We're back. So last week, 0:12:04.200 --> 0:12:08.079 Meta pushed out an update to Messenger for some users 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:12.120 a small group that would allow them to create stickers 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:17.160 through AI generation, something that would presumably find its way 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:20.880 into various Meta platforms. And it didn't take long at 0:12:20.920 --> 0:12:24.400 all for people to show that this tool as designed 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:31.120 has no real safeguards against stuff like intellectual property infringement, 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:35.080 like infringing upon trademarks and copyright and that kind of stuff, 0:12:35.600 --> 0:12:40.000 because users created stickers where they prompted the AI to make, 0:12:40.320 --> 0:12:44.280 you know, images of popular characters like Mickey Mouse doing 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:47.320 stuff that the Walt Disney Company absolutely would object to, 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:51.840 like having Mickey Mouse holding a bloody knife. That's not 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:54.439 an image that the Walt Disney Company would be likely 0:12:54.520 --> 0:12:58.400 to approve of. Several folks pointed out that it seems 0:12:58.520 --> 0:13:01.880 like the people at Meta a very little, if any 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:05.920 thought as to the consequences of rolling out an AI 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:10.959 generative sticker tool. Now, on the other hand, you could 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:14.280 make the argument that what Meta is doing is essentially 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:17.480 a limited beta rollout, and that the whole purpose of 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:21.400 the beta is to find exactly what sorts of issues 0:13:21.440 --> 0:13:24.640 exist with the features before they push it out to 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:27.480 the world at large. You know, it's better to find 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:30.199 out that your tool is I don't know, violating intellectual 0:13:30.240 --> 0:13:34.199 property laws with a small group rather than your overall 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:37.920 user base, right, I guess there's some logic to that. Now, 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:41.880 I personally wonder if perhaps some of this could have 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:45.920 been handled before it actually reached the beta test stage. Personally, 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:49.120 I see this as another indication that some companies are 0:13:49.160 --> 0:13:52.480 really rushing a bit too quickly to incorporate generative AI 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:55.720 into products, and then the grand scheme of things are 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:59.240 actually making it harder on themselves. But again, that's that's 0:13:59.360 --> 0:14:02.760 just my personfctive. I don't mean to suggest that that's 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:06.240 the correct way to look at things, or even that 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:10.360 I'm necessarily accurate in my estimation. It's just the way 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:13.880 it seems to be unfolding to me. Assuming an early 0:14:14.040 --> 0:14:18.560 report from Reuters has been accurate. Meta also held another 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:22.680 round of layoffs yesterday. This time the division that was 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:25.560 said to have been affected the most was Reality Labs. 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:29.560 Now that's the part of Meta that's working on future projects, 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:33.120 you know, stuff like the metaverse. So according to this report, 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:37.280 the specific people who were targeted by these layoffs worked 0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:41.880 on creating custom silicon products for Meta. So these are 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:45.880 the products that power stuff like mixed reality hardware. So 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:51.520 think of it like processors and such, and the mixed 0:14:51.520 --> 0:14:54.760 reality includes stuff like virtual reality, augmented reality, that kind 0:14:54.800 --> 0:14:58.440 of thing. So this does not mean that Meta has 0:14:58.480 --> 0:15:02.520 lost confidence in the metaverse concept in general, or even 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:06.960 lost confidence with mixed reality in particular. Instead, it may 0:15:07.000 --> 0:15:10.640 indicate that Meta wasn't seeing positive results as far as 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:14.880 developing their own chipsets. They weren't seeing the benefit of 0:15:15.000 --> 0:15:20.080 doing that versus say, relying upon external providers and purchasing 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:25.080 chips from established companies that specialize in that sort of thing. 0:15:25.560 --> 0:15:28.680 So I think the common wisdom is that Meta just 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:33.120 decided that it makes more sense to purchase stuff essentially 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:36.240 off the shelf rather than develop it in house for 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:40.440 this particular product. Okay, time to head over to the 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:44.440 platform X formerly known as Twitter. Elon Musk has made 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:47.520 another change, one that strikes me as a little odd, 0:15:48.040 --> 0:15:50.960 and it was definitely Musk who demanded this change because 0:15:50.960 --> 0:15:54.680 he said so himself. Anyway, that change is to remove 0:15:54.880 --> 0:16:00.520 article headlines from posts on X. So let's say that 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:05.920 you're on X. Wow, that sounds terrible, right, not ecstasy. 0:16:06.080 --> 0:16:09.280 You're on the platform X and you're posting an article 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:12.840 to your post used to be called a tweet. It's 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:16.080 hard to call anything anything these days. So you're posting 0:16:16.080 --> 0:16:21.160 an article on your X platform. And now that means 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:23.600 that people who follow you, instead of seeing a headline, 0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:26.760 they're going to see a blurb from the article followed 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:28.960 by an image and they can click through to go 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:31.200 and read the article there. But they're not going to 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:34.520 get the headline that actually indicates what the article is about. 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:37.240 And that seems really weird, right, because I mean, I 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:40.520 don't know a lot of articles bury the lead, so 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:42.960 the blurb at the top might not actually indicate what 0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:45.880 the article itself is really about. You might not actually 0:16:45.920 --> 0:16:49.080 have a good feeling as to what is this article 0:16:49.600 --> 0:16:53.280 all about. And of course there are also those terrible 0:16:53.400 --> 0:16:57.000 articles that will spend five hundred words just rambling about 0:16:57.080 --> 0:16:59.680 the obvious in an effort to drive more AD impressions, 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:01.920 and you have to just keep scrolling and scrolling and 0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:03.880 scrolling for like a full minute before you get to 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:07.240 the actual point of the article. I hate those anyway. 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:11.720 Musk says that this is going to quote greatly improve 0:17:11.840 --> 0:17:16.320 the esthetics end quote. Now maybe I don't think so. 0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:19.640 I don't understand what aesthetics are being improved by this, 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:22.600 But if I had to guess, I'd say what Musk 0:17:22.720 --> 0:17:25.640 is actually hoping for is a way to discourage people 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:29.160 from posting articles on X in the first place, because 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:32.359 clicking on an article takes your eyeballs away from X, 0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:36.400 and Musk really needs your eyes to stay on X itself. 0:17:37.359 --> 0:17:40.080 So maybe what he's hoping is that people will just 0:17:40.200 --> 0:17:44.679 kind of stop posting links and instead they'll summarize an article, 0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:46.720 or they'll give their own opinion on a topic, and 0:17:46.720 --> 0:17:51.040 they'll write longer posts, and this will prompt more engagement 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:54.120 on the platform. That way, because a lot of reports 0:17:54.160 --> 0:17:57.400 have said that excessing massive drops in AD revenue ever 0:17:57.440 --> 0:18:01.000 since Musk took over. That being said, Linda Yakarina, the 0:18:01.040 --> 0:18:04.760 actual CEO of X, has claimed that ninety percent of 0:18:04.920 --> 0:18:07.680 x's top advertisers have returned to the platform to place 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:11.240 ads there, but all the analysis I've seen has suggested 0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:15.680 that between like fifty to sixty five percent of revenue 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:20.760 is down every month because of various issues that advertisers 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:24.679 have with the platform. So if I were a betting fellow, 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:27.879 I'm not, but if I were, I would place a 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:30.360 wager that this is all really part of a move 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:34.680 to try and reverse the bad fortune of x Reuter's 0:18:34.680 --> 0:18:38.040 reports that BlackBerry is splitting into two companies. I was 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:40.480 actually surprised to learn that BlackBerry is still a thing. 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:42.720 I haven't been keeping up with that company for ages. 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:45.560 But one of the two companies will be focusing on 0:18:45.680 --> 0:18:50.320 BlackBerry's Internet of Things business that's primarily in car connected systems, 0:18:50.960 --> 0:18:55.040 and the other one will center around cybersecurity. Now, once 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:59.399 upon a time, BlackBerry was synonymous with smartphones. This was 0:18:59.400 --> 0:19:02.439 actually in the era before smartphones had touch screens and 0:19:02.440 --> 0:19:05.560 that sort of stuff, before the iPhone. Now, back when 0:19:05.880 --> 0:19:08.960 smartphones had physical keys that you would use to type 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:13.880 on and only business executives typically owned one. Now, according 0:19:13.880 --> 0:19:16.199 to the Globe and Mail, the driving force behind this 0:19:16.280 --> 0:19:19.800 decision is to provide more shareholder value and to drum 0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:22.359 up interest in the investor community because BlackBerry has been 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:26.320 kind of stagnating recently. Whether this will actually work and 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:29.320 achieve those goals remains to be seen, but the spinoff 0:19:29.440 --> 0:19:32.320 is supposed to happen at the beginning of the next 0:19:32.359 --> 0:19:36.040 fiscal year for BlackBerry, and for BlackBerry that means it 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:40.159 starts on March first. One story that I've somehow missed 0:19:40.680 --> 0:19:44.160 over the last month has to do with a company, 0:19:44.240 --> 0:19:48.959 and I use the term loosely called AOG technics all right, So, 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:55.720 several major airlines, which include American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, 0:19:55.800 --> 0:19:59.600 and now Delta Airlines, have found out that some of 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:03.520 the in ees on some of their aircraft contained parts 0:20:03.840 --> 0:20:08.199 that had fraudulent certification attached to them. So when it 0:20:08.240 --> 0:20:11.560 comes to the aerospace industry, everything is supposed to be 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:16.679 carefully tested and documented and certified. You've got agencies like 0:20:16.680 --> 0:20:20.040 here in the US we have the FAA that oversees 0:20:20.119 --> 0:20:22.760 this sort of stuff, and it's all for the protection 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:27.320 of the public as well as for the companies right 0:20:27.400 --> 0:20:31.080 to make sure that everything is as buttoned up as 0:20:31.119 --> 0:20:33.760 it can be to be as safe as possible. Now, 0:20:33.760 --> 0:20:37.119 a lot of airlines have aircraft that use a jet 0:20:37.160 --> 0:20:41.440 engine that was made by CFM International, and there's nothing 0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:44.919 wrong with the engines, like, the engines are fine. But 0:20:44.960 --> 0:20:48.280 when it comes time to service or to repair an engine, 0:20:48.480 --> 0:20:51.879 it's not uncommon for these airlines to rely upon a 0:20:51.920 --> 0:20:56.840 third party repair company, and those third party repair companies 0:20:57.080 --> 0:21:04.840 will use various brokers in the industry to acquire spare parts, 0:21:05.119 --> 0:21:09.080 which then they use to replace stuff that's either ending 0:21:09.160 --> 0:21:12.720 the nearing the end of its service life, or showing 0:21:12.760 --> 0:21:15.520 signs of wear and tear, whatever it may be. So 0:21:15.680 --> 0:21:19.000 AOG Technics was a part of this supply chain. It 0:21:19.040 --> 0:21:22.320 was one of these brokers and its job was to 0:21:22.680 --> 0:21:25.240 source and certify parts which it would then sell to 0:21:25.400 --> 0:21:29.920 these various repair companies. It was claiming that these were 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:33.359 certified parts, and as it turns out, that certification was fake. 0:21:33.800 --> 0:21:36.960 Now this means the reliability of those engine parts is 0:21:37.000 --> 0:21:39.680 brought into question. It doesn't automatically mean the parts are 0:21:39.840 --> 0:21:43.000 terrible or that they'll break immediately, but you just don't 0:21:43.040 --> 0:21:47.360 know because they were never certified. So the company itself, 0:21:47.400 --> 0:21:51.080 AOG Technics, has a single shareholder, which happens to be 0:21:51.119 --> 0:21:56.240 the company's founder and director a fellow named jose Zamora Yerralla, 0:21:56.760 --> 0:21:59.080 who has done a really good job of avoiding the 0:21:59.160 --> 0:22:02.800 press as this story has unfolded. The consequences of this 0:22:02.880 --> 0:22:06.800 issue is that the airlines affected have been pulling aircraft 0:22:07.040 --> 0:22:11.000 that have these engines out of service until the parts 0:22:11.000 --> 0:22:14.520 involved can be replaced. So essentially they're having to have 0:22:14.560 --> 0:22:18.720 the whole repair job done again and the fraudulent part 0:22:19.160 --> 0:22:23.320 swapped out for one that is truly certified. AOG Technics 0:22:23.320 --> 0:22:25.639 has essentially kind of gone away in a puff of smoke. 0:22:26.200 --> 0:22:28.480 It's a heck of a story. It really illustrates how 0:22:28.640 --> 0:22:33.080 complex supply chains can be, and how you can have 0:22:33.200 --> 0:22:36.479 unexpected weaknesses in those supply chains, and that you know, 0:22:36.720 --> 0:22:41.520 those weaknesses can include people who are running dishonest businesses. 0:22:42.480 --> 0:22:45.040 I will keep an eye on this story as it continues, 0:22:45.040 --> 0:22:49.080 because I'm very curious to hear how this even happened. 0:22:49.359 --> 0:22:52.200 AOG Technics, from why I understand, has been around since 0:22:52.200 --> 0:22:57.399 twenty fifteen. It's had a kind of questionable history, you know, 0:22:57.720 --> 0:23:03.440 with its with its own corporate address, bouncing around the UK, 0:23:04.640 --> 0:23:07.280 never really staying in one place for any length of time, 0:23:07.280 --> 0:23:12.240 and not apparently attached to like a actual physical office. 0:23:12.800 --> 0:23:17.359 So it sounds like there's been some fairly questionable proceedings 0:23:17.440 --> 0:23:20.520 going on for a while, and I'm curious to learn more. 0:23:20.560 --> 0:23:25.000 But I'm sure we'll get more information as the story unfolds. Okay, 0:23:25.440 --> 0:23:27.600 we're going to take another quick break. When we come back, 0:23:27.640 --> 0:23:29.639 I got a few more stories and a couple of 0:23:29.640 --> 0:23:42.320 recommendations for y'all, but first let's thank our sponsors. Okay, 0:23:42.320 --> 0:23:47.360 we're back. So a few years ago, the video game 0:23:47.359 --> 0:23:51.840 publisher Ubisoft, which is responsible for franchises like Assassin's Creed, 0:23:53.080 --> 0:23:57.800 had a massive scandal, like a really big, nasty scandal 0:23:57.840 --> 0:24:01.800 with a Nubisoft that involved you know, corporate culture and 0:24:02.040 --> 0:24:06.480 sexual harassment and preferential treatment and all these sorts of 0:24:06.520 --> 0:24:13.640 allegations that are absolutely terrible. The revelations shook the company significantly, 0:24:14.280 --> 0:24:18.199 with multiple executives being shown the door as a result 0:24:18.320 --> 0:24:22.280 of the allegations. But you would you could actually say 0:24:22.320 --> 0:24:25.800 that the problems that were later revealed that Activision Blizzard 0:24:25.880 --> 0:24:29.440 ultimately kind of pulled focus away from Ubisoft. Like it 0:24:29.600 --> 0:24:32.440 it was. It was something like a year later where 0:24:32.480 --> 0:24:35.760 Activision Blizzard story started to break and it just started 0:24:35.760 --> 0:24:38.719 to look like it wasn't just a terrible systemic problem 0:24:38.720 --> 0:24:43.240 with an Ubi Solft, but perhaps a wider problem throughout 0:24:43.800 --> 0:24:48.320 parts of the video game development industry. Anyway. Now, the 0:24:48.440 --> 0:24:51.359 new part of the news is that French authorities have 0:24:51.480 --> 0:24:56.880 arrested five former Ubisoft executives. This is according to Engadget, 0:24:57.280 --> 0:25:00.679 and these include executives who left UBI Soft disgrace in 0:25:00.760 --> 0:25:04.600 twenty twenty after being named in employee accusations as being 0:25:04.600 --> 0:25:09.040 guilty of, to put it, lightly, unprofessional conduct. The French 0:25:09.080 --> 0:25:12.199 authorities said they spent more than a full year investigating 0:25:12.200 --> 0:25:15.880 the various claims and that that led to these arrests. 0:25:15.960 --> 0:25:20.320 Like these were serious allegations. A lawyer for the plaintiffs 0:25:20.640 --> 0:25:23.760 say that the issues indicate a systemic problem with quote 0:25:23.840 --> 0:25:28.240 unquote sexual violence within the company. I should also add 0:25:28.240 --> 0:25:33.479 that leadership at Ubisoft, after this scandal had become huge 0:25:33.600 --> 0:25:38.840 news committed to changing corporate culture. I am uncertain how 0:25:38.880 --> 0:25:43.159 far that transformation has actually gone to date. I would 0:25:43.200 --> 0:25:46.680 hope that it's been significant and that there really has 0:25:46.880 --> 0:25:50.600 been massive change within the organization because the stories that 0:25:50.640 --> 0:25:54.800 were coming out about Ubisoft around twenty twenty were absolutely disgusting. 0:25:55.280 --> 0:25:58.480 So I hope that that actually has been a big change, 0:25:58.920 --> 0:26:01.879 you just didn't see much information about it after the 0:26:02.000 --> 0:26:08.399 initial scandal made headlines. The United States FCC has told 0:26:08.400 --> 0:26:10.800